Torchwood

There seems to be an awful lot of negative comment about Torchwood on these pages and there is definitely a certain 'its not like Doctor Who' element. I love the re-vamped Dr Who, and I was a fan as a child, I grew up with Jon Pertwee as the Doctor and to me he was always the definitive incumbent, until being eclipsed by both the modern incarnations. No, Torchwood is not like Doctor Who, it's a different series; I feel that the characters are very well drawn. They are a team of typical people, they do not have the solutions to all the problems they face, they get scared, they argue, they make mistakes. As far as I see it they behave exactly how most normal people would if recruited and working in a tightly knit team under stressful conditions. There is of course the Russell Davies trademark BLG sexual behaviour, but it is portrayed in a refreshing manner and very much it keeping with the general vibe of the show.

What many of the reviewers seem to miss is the fact that the show is as much about the characters as the aliens, the scripts with a couple of exceptions have been excellent, exploring human relationships and attitudes from a range of perspectives, but most importantly they have been rip-roaring entertainment.

The acting is strong, Barrowman being particularly good, but they all acquit themselves well. The casting is excellent, rather than a stable of beautiful people, they have chosen actors that look, and thanks to good writing, behave, like real people.

A couple of points;

John Barrowman's American accent isn't fake; he lived there from the age of eight.

A lot of comments regarding how derivative the series is; I suspect that Bram Stoker might consider Buffy to be more than a little derivative of his work, but none the less entertaining for it.

This is an excellent series, watch more than one episode before reviewing and please try to approach it with out a particular expectation.

In summary, it is brilliant entertainment.

is what really makes this series. I've watched it a couple of times now, stories are largely good fun, but the self-sacrificing humanity of the deathless man that is Captain Jack is quite heartbreaking at times and so often, it's his own heart that breaks, but something keeps him going (and the series for that matter).

For what was a spin-off then from Dr Who, by focusing on the characters and not the events, it quickly established its own feet as something different and very worthwhile.

The cast is largely fine, each role is stereotypical in a "secret organization", the geek, the streetwise one, the IT guru, the "everyday" police one that we can all identify with, it's just Jack that is out of the ordinary and John Barrowman plays the role perfectly.

Love the show, recommended viewing.

From November 1963 until recently I have loved all things WHO (the first Doctor Who hit TV the day after JFK was killed). I've enjoyed all the spin-offs, including, and maybe especially, Torchwood (letters of Doctor Who rearranged, as most people realize). Then along comes 2011 and the move to Starz and the U.S. and the whole show goes flat. All the cool stuff is gone; alien jail; alien artifacts (idea stolen by Warehouse 13), Captain Jack's immortality, occasional Dr. Who crossovers, assorted creatures, etc. Each episode was a complete story with a few ongoing tie-ins. Now it's just another soap opera, and an especially bad one at that. We've had Lost, Heros, V, The Event and others. These things just go on and on, sometimes for years, and just fizzle, or just get left in mid-story. Torchwood: Miracle Day has a weak story, a castrated hero and nowhere to go. I hope it goes back to the BBC as soon as possible.

The most instantly noticeable problem with this is the overwhelming, dreadful music, which is not only awful in its own right but any kind of atmosphere or tension is more often than not blared out by the terrible, dated, cheesy techno, which also has the effect of making the show sound like a kids program rather than the 'adult' effort it pertains to be.

As to it being 'adult', the throwing in of some swearing and sex doesn't make it so when the script is simplistic, juvenile and utterly lacking in any of the intelligence, edge or wit needed to raise it to the level of a genuine adult drama, it simply comes across as a mish mash suited more for teens than anyone else.

On the limited plus side the main female protagonist is kinda cute and Davies seems to have happily refrained from his usual trick of having at least one character being a hyperactive pain in the arse, more underplayed characters are a welcome relief but neither is enough to lift this much higher than being fairly embarrassing dross.

Really, each series of Torchwood ought to be rated in isolation since they're so different in consistency and quality.

I've not marked this as a spoiler review, but if you truly want to know NOTHING about it, don't read further

S1 is fine. It's a 6/6.5. With some gems and a few real STINKERS in there. Countryside being a highlight, alongside They Keep Killing Suzie, Out Of Time, and obviously the two part finale, but after the first 4 episodes being pretty poor, it isn't a surprise many people never make it that far in. Not to mention in episode 1, Owen (among the least likeable protagonist characters in all of DW media) using some alien technology to habitually commit date rape and this being played for laughs (I am definitely not the first person to point this out and I won't be the last)

S2 is a definite improvement, with both tone and consistency getting more sure of itself. Still far from perfect, it's very "of its time", and some of the humour doesn't land very well, but the more emotional aspects olto the character development here are undeniably better.

S3, Children of Earth, is very possibly the best bit of TV media in the entire Doctor Who universe. A single story which was originally broadcast across 5 consecutive nights, this transcends the schlocky, teen/young adult sci fi genre, and becomes simultaneously a Sci Fi, a conspiracy, and a tense political thriller. That might sound confused, but it is executed PERFECTLY

S4, Miracle Day, is not as bad on a rewatch as I remember it having been from the time, but it's still the weakest. Like CoE, it is a serialised season, but it's got about 4/5 episodes of plot stretched over 10 episodes, has plot threads that don't go anywhere, introduces multiple uninteresting characters, and ends very unsatisfyingly.

All in all, I think it's worth watching, but there are definitely some pretty rubbish episodes you can definitely afford to skip.